CHEERS | BOOK GIVEAWAY
Modern Cape Malay Cooking by Cariema Isaacs is subtitled ‘comfort food inspired by my Cape Malay heritage’.
So much of what being a South Africa means is tied up in food. We are all defined by our love for biltong, braaivleis, Mrs Balls chutney, milk tart and whether you prefer the twisted, syrupy koeksisters or the original, coconut bedecked koe’sisters.
Food critics frequently bemoan the fact that there are few restaurants which celebrate South African food heritage. French cuisine has an identity, Italian food has an identity and a defined regionality and so do many other nations. But South Africa is a genuine melting pot, taking its inspiration from Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as different places in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Successful cookbook author Cariema Isaacs takes her cues from her Cape Malay heritage and says the love language of her community is food. She says tramakasie (thank you) every day she gets to express herself through food. That’s when she’s not juggling the demands of her popular blog, her day job working for a multinational company based in Dubai and life with her husband, Turhaan Samoedien, and two sons, Tawfeeq and Tashreeq. But this International Centre for Culinary Arts trained chef is most inspired by the constantly morphing world of food.
Her first book, published in 2016, was Cooking for My Father in My Cape Malay Kitchen, an homage to her father, rich and redolent with memories of her childhood in the Bo-Kaap quarter in Cape Town. It was followed in 2019 by Spice Odyssey that was recognised with a nomination in the Gourmand Culinary Awards in 2020. And her insatiable love of curries inspired her to pen her third book, Curried in 2021.
In her fourth and latest book, Modern Cape Malay Cooking, Isaacs updates the genre which has its roots and origins from thousands of miles away in the East, in modern day Malaysia and Indonesia. It’s a contemporary take on feasting, food and even simple home cooking.
Although Cape Malay recipes and cuisine has held fast against the vagaries of fashion through the centuries, it’s not immune to global influence – or a desire to incorporate more modern ingredients. Isaacs’ new book documents how there’s a fusion between the modern ways and the old. This is especially thanks to the Cape Malay millennial generation that craves popular dishes from the East and West. There’s no reason a quick stir-fry or a comforting pasta can’t incorporate a Cape Malay twist, Isaac believes. And that means she makes it spicy, she makes it saucy and is adamant that it must be packed with flavour!
In Modern Cape Malay Cooking, Isaacs shares the recipes and influences that have inspired these modern dishes, with simple ingredients and vibrant aromatics for any cook who is curious and courageous enough to explore and create flavour.
There is everything from the fundamentals of Cape Malay-inspired cuisine; comforting Cape Malay breakfast meals and sweet indulgences, sizzling smoortjies, meals to suit the palate and pocket as well as traditional comfort food with a contemporary twist. Isaacs even includes instant pot and air fryer recipes!
Expect to find recipes for everything from denningvleis to Isaacs’ take on nachos or bao buns. There is also a handy segment on condiments as well as refreshing non-alcoholic thirst quenchers.
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My Instant Pot Biryani
Once I got this recipe down to a T, I realised that I would not want to make biryani and even akni any other way! The potatoes are like little cloud puffs, tender and fluffy and the meat falls off the bone – a result of pressure cooking. This recipe doesn’t even require you to marinate the meat overnight because the flavour permeates throughout all the ingredients, including the meat.
Serves 6–8 | Preparation time 30 minutes | Cooking time 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
FOR THE YOGHURT MARINADE
1 C (250 ml) plain yoghurt, buttermilk or amasi
2 Tbsp (30 ml) garlic and ginger paste
2 Tbsp (30 ml) biryani masala
1 Tbsp (15 ml) garam masala
1 tsp (5 m) Kashmiri chilli powder or Pakco roasted masala
½ tsp (2.5 ml) turmeric
1 Tbsp (15 ml) ground cumin
½ tsp (2.5 ml) saffron threads
2 tsp (10 ml) salt
1 ripe tomato, skinned and grated
1 fresh green chilli, split lengthwise
FOR THE BIRYANI
700 g shoulder or leg of lamb portions, bone in
½ C (125 ml) canola or vegetable oil
3 potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered, patted dry with a kitchen towel
3 onions, thinly sliced
2 cardamom pods, slightly bruised
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
3½ C (875 ml) water
2 C (500 ml) basmati rice, rinsed until the water runs clear, drained
½ C (125 ml) brown lentils, cooked in
2 C (500 ml) water for 10 minutes, rinsed and drained, or canned lentils, rinsed and drained
Salt to taste
50 g butter
4–6 hard-boiled eggs
10 strands saffron threads, soaked in
2 Tbsp (30 ml) warm water
METHOD HERE
METHOD HERE
PREPARING THE MARINADE WITH THE MEAT
1. Dab the leg of lamb with paper towel to remove all the excess moisture. This allows the marinade to adhere to the lamb.
2. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the portions of meat and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
PREPARING THE BIRYANI
1. You won’t need the lid of the Instant Pot during the first phase of the cooking process. Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté setting on high, which means you’ll press sauté three times.
2. Add the oil and then, once the oil is warm, add the potatoes and fry until golden and crisp on the outside but not yet cooked on the inside. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.
3. Add the onions and fry for 15–20 minutes or until the onions are golden. Remove half of the onions with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.
4. Press cancel on the Instant Pot. Add the meat and yoghurt marinade, the cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaves, and ½ C (125 ml) water to the Instant Pot.
5. Move the vent to the Sealing Position. Select the pressure cook setting and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
6. Once done, allow the pressure to release naturally, i.e. wait for the pin to drop.
7. When the pressure is released, place the partially fried potatoes in between the meat, then add half the rinsed rice, ensuring that you spread out the rice to cover the meat and potatoes.
8. Cover the rice with a layer of brown lentils. At this stage I also sprinkle 1 tsp (5 ml) salt over the lentils.
9. Add the remaining rice and spread this out over the lentils.
10. Add the remaining 3 C (750 ml) water and secure the lid.
11. Move the vent up to Sealing Position. Push Meat/Stew on Medium Pressure and set the time to 7 minutes.
12. Once done, allow the pressure to release naturally, i.e. wait for the pin to drop.
13. When the pressure is released, dot the partially cooked breyani with cubes of butter, pushing it down into the rice, ever so gently. Do the same with the hard-boiled eggs. Pour the saffron strands and water over the rice and eggs.
14. Secure the lid of the Instant Pot again and move the vent up to Sealing Position. Allow the biryani to rest for about 20 minutes until the rice has puffed up.
15. To serve, I remove the inner pot of the Instant Pot and set it down on the kitchen table surface. Place a large serving platter or large bowl over the inner pot and upend it.
16 Allow it to stand like this for about 2 minutes, then gently lift the inner pot to expose the different layers of the biryani.
17. Remove any leftovers from the inner pot, add it to the rest of the biryani and serve with tomato and onion relish.
Low-sugar Acai Bowl
Serves 4 | Preparation time 15 minutes | Setting time none
Ingredients:
FOR THE ACAI BOWL BASE
1 frozen banana, sliced
½ C (125 ml) frozen strawberries or raspberries
1 Tbsp (15 ml) acai berry powder
3 Tbsp (45 ml) almond or coconut milk
1 Tbsp (15 ml) protein powder of your choice
1 tsp (5 ml) cacao nibs or cocoa powder (optional)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) natural peanut or almond butter (optional)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) chia seeds
OPTIONS FOR TOPPINGS
Top with fresh summer fruit, slices of seedless watermelon or sweet melon, or Asian fruit such as dragon fruit or star fruit
1. Place all the base ingredients into a blender.
2. Pulse until smooth. Don’t over blend as you want to avoid a watery mixture – it must be thick enough to eat with a spoon.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the toppings of your choice.
Cariema’s Tip
Cariema’s Tip:
Chia seeds can be used to thicken the texture of smoothies, puddings and acai bowls. Use less or more depending on the consistency you require.
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and it’s one of the reasons I love this low-sugar acai bowl. It’s perfect for when you want to control your sugar intake and is so refreshing in summer with a topping of sliced or shaped fruit – just don't overdo it as the fruit will increase the sugar.
Malaysian Butter Biscuits with a White Chocolate and Pistachio Topping
Makes 90 | Preparation time 30 minutes | Baking time 12 minutes
Ingredients:
200 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ C (125 ml) castor sugar
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla essence
¼ C (60 ml) rolled oats, roughly chopped in a food processor
Pinch of salt
3/4 C (200 ml) self-raising wheat flour , sifted
11/4 C (310 ml) cake wheat flour , sifted
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) baking powder
150 g white chocolate, chopped and melted
1 C (250 ml) pistachio slivers, lightly roasted in the oven or on the stovetop
Gold leaf or gold dust (optional)
METHOD HERE
These biscuits are unique in that they contain rolled oats. It’s a recipe that Rita Zahara’s mom customised for Eid and it’s featured in Rita’s cookbook Malay Heritage Cooking. She vows that this has become a staple at Eid in their home and, suffice to say, it’s found its rightful place on my Eid table too.
Malaysian Butter Biscuits with a White Chocolate and Pistachio Topping
1.Preheat the oven to 160 °C.
2. Line at least two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla essence, rolled oats, salt, flours and baking powder and mix to form a unified biscuit dough.
5. The dough is very soft and can be shaped using a cookie press gun. Alternatively, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 3–4 mm and use a cookie cutter to shape the biscuits.
6. Arrange the biscuits on the baking trays.
7. Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden. The biscuits will be soft while hot, but will harden as they cool.
8. Set aside on a wire rack until cool.
9. Dip the biscuits into the melted chocolate and scatter with pistachio chips. Set aside until the chocolate has set.
10. To create that Eid glitz and glamour, adorn with bits of gold leaf or sprinkle with gold dust.